The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-11
SET UPON In HIS OFFICE.
POSTMASTER LAMAR ASSAULTED
BY HIS LATE DEPUTY.

/
His Assailant Arrested, But Released
on Bail-A Pistol Figures in the Melee
The Cause of the Difficulty p Col.
Anderson Demands His Bond, But
Fails to Get 1t.
The animosity that has existed between
Postmaster Lamar and Col. Clifford An
derson, his late assistant, eliminated yes
terday in personal encounter in the Post
masters private office Col. Anderson had
been discharged, his books had been
examined, shortage found, and made up
by his friends, and he thought that he was
entitled to his bond He went into the
Office of Capt. Lamar yesterday, and de-
manded it, Capt. Lamar refused to
give it up until the investigation
is settled as he did not know what might be
| found before that. Col. Anderson then be-
gan a vigorous abuse of Capt. Lamar, call
ing him exceedingly unpleasant names, and
referring to him in most violent language
Capt. Lamar said that Col Anderson
| drew a pistol, and as he did so he sprang
| forward with astick in his hand and grasped
the pistol. Col. Anderson denied that he
drew the pistol until Capt. Lamar struck
him. At any rate the pistol was drawn and
|
| head with his cane, cutting cash inches
| long. A second blow cut his left cheek, and
from his wounds poured streams of blood
| that dyed his linen crimson.
THE coMBATANTs SEPARATED.
| DIR. Schley, who was writing prescrip
| ton in the office, and the clerks interfered
and separated them, and a messenger was
sent for the police Acting Mayor Schwarz
was at the Exchange and he responded, as
there was question in his mind whether a
| city policeman had a right to make an
| arrest in a government building and
he wished to take the responsibility
upon himself He took Col Anderson
to the Exchange and at once consult
| ed Corporation Attorney Adams as to
| his right to make the arrest. Mr.. Adams re-
piled that city policeman could arrest
anyone on government property for viola
| ton of city ordinance While the matter
was being determined Detective Wetherhorn
arrived with a peace warrant which had
been swon out by Capt Lamar before
Justice Waring Russell, and Maj,
Schwarz turned his prisoner over to him,
CAUSE OF THE ARRAY.
The ex-Deputy gave his statement of the
| trouble which has existed between Capt
Lamar and himself. He said that it first
arose over the key to the vault; that there
were frequently $4,000 to S15, 600 in stamps
in the vault, and sometimes $4,000 or s., 900
in money! for all of which he was
that he was held accountable
for it he desired sole possession of the key
which was in the custody of two of the
| clerks who were not in any way accounta-
BILE He had spoken to Capt. Lamar, he
said, about the matter, but it did no good,
and last March, while he was suffer
ing from the effects of a surgical
81 l.,
about this and other matters, drinking and
smoking in the office among other things,
and he replied stating that if he was to be
| held to a rigid accountability for the con-
| tents of the vault he wanted sole possession
of the key. Col. Anderson said a shortage
of $50 had occurred in the stamps and Col.
Anderson said that he had made that up,
that he had not had possession of the key
| since Sept. | until the trouble arose and
the inspectors came on to examine his
accounts. He said the accounts might not
have been left as accurately as they would
have been had he been a trained accountant
but his training was a military one. He
was sure, however, that though he was not
a good bookkeeper, he was not responsible
for the shortage which the inspectors had
found in his cash. The deficit had been
made good, however, by his friends, though
against his wishes. Col Anderson declined,
however, to state the amount of his alleged
defalcation, or how much his friends had
paid up for him. He desired to let the
matter remain open and be decided in the
courts
THE SHORTAGE MADE GOOD.
But, he said, the money had been paid
and it is no longer a matter of dollars and
| cents: it is a question of reputation and
character, and to decide the moral or legal
responsibility, or both, he wrote to Capt
Lamar to submit the proposition that five
bank Presidents should sit as board to
hear both sides and determine,
Presidents Hammond, Flannery and
Weed having consented to act. To this, he
said, Capt Lamar replied that the matter
was no longer in his hands. Col. Anderson
said that Capt. Lamar was endeavoring to
blacken his reputation, and the two must
meet at ten PAGES or Savannah would not
hold them both.
CAPT. LAMAR's STATEMENT.
Capt. Lamar was seen in his office. He
| seemed to take the matter very coolly and
spoke freely of it, though he regretted very
much that the affair should have occurred.
In regard to the key to the vault he said
that when he took charge of the office there
were not safes enough and the regists red
letters had to be put into the vaults at
night. The key was then kept by both
Col. Anderson and the registry clerk,
but when his application for safes
was recognized and the safes sent on,
the key to the vault was delivered to Col
Anderson, who counted his cash and said it
was all right. Since that time the key had
never been out of Col. Anderson's possession
except once when he was going
out of the city. Col Anderson
then gave him the key and he locked it in
his safe and kept it there until Col Ander-
sons return, when they went together to
the safe and he gave it TO Col. Anderson.
Since then the Colonel has kept it until he
delivered it up to the inspector. Within
the last thirty days, he said, Col. Anderson
had reported to him that his cash was all
right, but that the Office had not been in
spected for some time and he sent for an
inspector.
THE MEETING TWO WEEKS AGO.
The result was the finding of the short
age, which Col. Anderson wanted to lay at
anyone's door but his own, and that, he
said was the cause of the difficulty between
them on Saturday night, Oct. l. 1t was
reported that they had quarrel over bust
ness affairs but that was not true. Col.
Anderson, he said, was under the influence
of liquor and was abusing the
clerks IN the Office and calling